Eastern Additions

Eastern Additions – Sri Lanka & Kerala Testimonials

A truly memorable holiday in Sri Lanka

Thank you we had a fabulous trip to Sri Lanka! A huge thank you too for my blue birthday cake and the wine. A platter of fruit was also delivered to..

Thank you we had a fabulous trip to Sri Lanka! A huge thank you too for my blue birthday cake and the wine. A platter of fruit was also delivered to our room which I think must also have come from Motmot.

Prasantha was a brilliant guide, really thoughtful and helpful. He made everything go so smoothly, was very knowledgeable and great fun too.

We were upgraded on the first night as Goldi Sands was full. I can’t remember the name of the hotel but it was gorgeous. All the accommodation was great -the Hill Club was hilarious, like stepping back in time.

The hotel manager at Sinharaja took us down the hillside through his tea plantation to swim in a mountain river which was lovely. Talking of tea plantation the tour was a bit underwhelming. The factory wasn’t processesing any tea as none had been picked the previous day which was a Sunday.

The staff at the Eagles Nest Cabanas were excellent and made our stay there very special.

The train was great fun and thank you for switching us to the 2nd class carriage it was a wonderful experience.

Whale watching has been a long held wish of mine – we were so lucky and saw lots! I was so glad we were on a boat which respected the whales and didn’t get too close.

The safari at Yala was quite an experience! Dozens of jeeps tearing around in a cloud of diesel fumes.

Washing an elephant was brilliant and it wasnt at all crowded so thanks again for switching that too.

All in all it was a truly memorable holiday so thank you so much. Ginny Crocks -March 2018

A wonderful fascinating family holiday in Sri Lanka

Thank you for organising another memorable holiday. All went like clockwork. No complaints at all. The driver, Prashanta had good knowledge of Sri L..

Thank you for organising another memorable holiday. All went like clockwork. No complaints at all. The driver, Prashanta had good knowledge of Sri Lankan wildlife. We spotted around 100 bird species without really trying too hard + 20 mammals. He drove safely throughout, spoke good English, and was amiable & helpful. He was particularly helpful with suggesting & implementing changes to the itinerary. This enabled us to do more of what we wanted to do, which really made a difference to the holiday.

As a general comment, the estimated journey times between venues were under-estimates, at least at the time of day that the journey occurred. You can add at least an hour to most of them. The distances are not great, but the ever present tuctucs, bikes, cows etc make the travel slow. In my opinion, doing a full circuit of the island in two weeks would be arduous. It might be better to work up tour programmes based on just North or just South Sri Lanka or Highland Sri Lanka.

The Wallawwa

Excellent colonial hotel, good food, wonderful beds, exceptional staff. No complaints. Ideal for a 1 or 2 day stay.

Rascals

Something of a marmite place. My son said it was his favourite hotel on the island because it was relaxed & laid back. Personally I felt the staff were laid-back to the point of indifference. If you want to do kite-surfing it is a fantastic place. If you don’t then there is a swimming pool & not much else. We enjoyed attempting to kite surf, but the recommended course is three day minimum….so it is a lot harder than wind-surfing or other water-sports.

Wild Wadi

Only just opened, with a touch of the building-site about it, this is a very small hotel – only four rooms, and I think it will be some time before they can build more. I had the impression that they didn’t see Europeans very often, and were a bit unsure what to do with us! Curry for breakfast was a new experience for me, which is why we travel. There were troupes of langur & macaque monkeys frequently in the hotel that added to it’s interest & the adjoining farm had elephant watches out. Wilpattu reserve is not far away from here, and I think the hotel will make a brilliant base for exploring Wilpattu, especially if they finish the planned lake / pond near the restaurant.

Not possible. Whales had moved 40 miles off shore a week or two earlier. This was a disappointment, but they a free creatures & not obliged to fit our agenda. Did dolphin watching instead & saw dozens of spinner dolphins.

This was fun, but could be shortened from 3 hours to two hours. Found star tortoises.

Minneriya National Park

Loved it. Saw over 100 elephants

Kaudulla National Park

Another additional tour suggested by our driver. Lovely quiet park, only saw a handful of other jeeps. Nice for bird watching & loads of elephants.

Galadari Hotel

International hotel in Colombo. Very elegant restaurant on top. We didn’t think a lot of Colombo old town, building work everywhere, hot & dusty. Our white (red) faces were something of a magnet for the local touts. I wouldn’t stay in town centre again, it’s not worth fighting through the traffic for.

Overall View

With all extras, the full two week holiday for four persons came to £13,000. I think this is good value for money for the richness of the experience that we had & distances involved. A “private driver / guide” for two weeks is particularly impressive. If I’m honest, I was a little disappointed with the islands natural beauty. 90% of what we drove through was subsistence farmland, which reminded me somewhat of Barbados, where there are too many people in one finite island. Possibly I might get a different impression if I headed into the highlands. I may also have been spoilt by my trip to Costa Rica with you last year which was such a wonderful country for natural beauty.

In conclusion, we had a wonderful fascinating family holiday through MotMot, and we thank you for your efforts in organising this.

Sri Lanka is lovely and all the people very friendly and are always smiling.

It was a fantastic trip and superbly well organised. Our driver Prashantha was very friendly, helpful and extremely knowledgeable. He was (which was..

It was a fantastic trip and superbly well organised. Our driver Prashantha was very friendly, helpful and extremely knowledgeable. He was (which was a surprise) one of the top birders in Sri Lanka. If you do send further clients or a group to Sri Lanka for birding or wildlife, you should insist on him as the driver/local leader.

The two Jetwing Hotels (Negombo and Yala) were marvellous and can be highly recommended as can Boulder Lodge. Although Boulder is somewhat basic, it more than makes up for any lack of amenities because of its amazing setting. The steps up to the eating area can be a bit of a challenge for less abled persons!

The only slight disappointment was Eden Hotel and Spa but we were only there for one night. Perhaps we were somewhat spoilt by Jetwing Yala Hotel, with its spacious rooms and wonderful food. The bedroom and bathroom at Eden were fairly small and the dining area was cramped and noisy.

The birds were fantastic and Prashantha knew where to find them. I would consider going again to find a few more endemics perhaps in different areas.

Sri Lanka is lovely and all the people very friendly and are always smiling.

GET IN TOUCH

Whether you would like to spend your time experiencing new cultures and environments, bird watching, relaxing on a beach or trying something a little more adventurous, we can use our expert first-hand knowledge and passion for this region to design an itinerary that is perfect for you.

If you could just let us have a little information, such as when you are thinking of travelling, the number of travellers, if you have a budget in mind, and also if you have any special interests. We will then send you an itinerary and quotation for you to consider without any obligation, based on the availability for your preferred dates and with your needs in mind. However, if you would like to chat with a member of the team about your holiday plans first, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01327 359622.

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